The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a grantee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, has released a report through its Health Policy Institute HPI addressing the issue of health disparities in America. The report examines the social and economic conditions that increase diseases among minorities – and were so evident among many low-income Gulf Coast residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The study examines the consequences if Congress adopts proposals to cap Medicaid enrollment or spending.
Declaring that there is a health crisis for people of color in America, former Ohio Congressman Louis Stokes, who chairs the HPI Advisory Committee, stated “our goal is to identify the underlying causes of health disparities, and work with the public and private sectors to develop programs to improve those conditions. Poverty, substandard housing, lack of health insurance and other environmental conditions contribute greatly to health disparities.” View the full Medicaid Report.
